Pirate festival a hit in Marcus Hook

MARCUS HOOK — There were young pirates and old pirates. Tall pirates and short pirates. Pirates in hats. Pirates with bandannas.

There were blacksmiths and medicine men and at least three pint-size incarnations of Capt. Jack Sparrow.

And they all came ashore for the Marcus Hook Pirate Festival.

“It’s great,” said Michael Manerchia, a Marcus Hook councilman, chair of the Marcus Hook Historical Society, and de facto Blackbeard, as he surveyed the happenings at Market Square Memorial Park on Saturday afternoon. “Everyone seems to love it, especially the kids. It’s great to be able to not only teach them the history of piracy, but to introduce them again to Marcus Hook.”

The Hook has always been proud of its piratical past, and they’ve celebrated it for the past five years by inviting pirate crews from up and down the East Coast to set up camp on the shores of the Delaware River. Eight crews of about 40 or 50 pirates showed up this year, bringing with them pirate garb, merchandise, food, drink, and weapons — everything a real pirate needs to ply the trade.

“It’s hard to say what the best part of the day has been,” Manerchia said. “The skits, the crews, the music — everyone’s enjoying all of it. The crowds haven’t lightened up a bit. This is the most people I’ve ever seen at the Pirate Festival.”

Indeed. Anna Glisson of the Marcus Hook Historical Society estimated that 6,000 landlubbers visited the fair — and that was with two hours to go.

And what wasn’t to love? At the encampment outside the Marcus Hook Community Center, a pirate sat atop a barrel, singing “Blow the Man Down” as he played an accordion. In a tent next to him, Linda Jennings — aka Grace O’Malley, the “Irish Pirate Queen” — sat behind a table filled with 17th-century guns, swords, cannonballs and, yes, hooks.

“Certainly, a lot of kids are into pirates now because of Disney and the ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ movies, but it’s also because they want to believe in heroes,” Jennings said. “When it comes to piracy, it’s not all a bad story. A lot of pirates were naval officers who couldn’t support their families and made a much better living as pirates. These men were disciplined. They knew how to run a crew.”

As Jennings spoke, pirate crews behind the Community Center set in on a demonstration of the other cool thing about piracy: Cannon fire. As four bearded, tattooed pirates loaded gunpowder into brass cannons, another barked orders.

“Gunners, load your pieces,” he shouted. “Fire!”

A group of children huddled behind a safety barrier shrieked with delight and clapped their hands over their ears.

“I like them using the cannons,” 6-year-old Henry Murphy said afterward. “It hurt my ears but I liked it.”

His mother, Sara, said she brought Henry and his 8-year-old brother, Padraic, to the festival at the urging of a friend.

“It’s really fun,” she said. “It’s neat for kids to learn the history of piracy in a way that’s exciting to them.”

In addition to the encampment, visitors were treated to free tours of the Plank House, a Market Street structure rumored to have been the home of Margaret, one of Blackbeard’s mistresses. There were pony rides, moon bounces, crafters, vendors, music, skits and more food than any pirate could fit in his galley.

Ten-year-old Kyle Brown was enjoying every bit of it.

“I love pirates,” he said from beneath his three-cornered hat. “I love how they talk and the clothes they wear and how they always have a good time. And I’m having a good time, too.”